Gators grow 25 to 35 sets of teeth in a lifetime

Love 'em or hate 'em, alligators capture the attention of just about everyone in Mississippi. And rightly so; they're the biggest, baddest animals in the state. But what you don't know about them may be even more fascinating.

Buried in a mound of dirt and vegetation, alligator eggs are gender-neutral during the first weeks. At about 21 days, the sex of the hatchlings is determined by temperature.

"The eggs incubate in the nest as the result of decomposition of that live and dead vegetation along with soil and moisture," said Ricky Flynt, Alligator Program Coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. "It creates a decomposing heat kind of like a compost pile.

"Eggs that are below 86 degrees will become females. Those that are above 93 degrees will become males."

Flynt said eggs in temperatures between 86 and 93 degrees will be a mix of sexes.

Once born, baby alligators face a variety of threats, but the biggest is other alligators.

"Alligators are cannibalistic," Flynt said. "Adult alligators are the largest contributors to hatchling mortality.

"Only about half will make it the first year. Only about 25 percent will make it to 4 feet long. By the time they make it to 6 or 7 feet, you've lost about 90 percent."

At 6 or 7 feet long, alligators are well on their way to becoming a true apex predator, but how do they find their prey in murky water and in the dark of night? According to Flynt, integumentary sense organs make it possible.

"If you're looking at the head of an alligator you'll see these little dark spots that look like freckles," Flynt said. "Each one of those is a nerve.

"That's how an alligator senses movement. On multiple occasions when I'm casting a treble hook at an alligator it has landed in front of him or right beside his mouth. Before the hook can even sink he's able to grab at it and snatch it. A lot of it was at night, so it's not like he could see it coming."

With the ability to hunt by day and night, and because they can weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds, alligators can kill just about anything that lives in Mississippi. And when they make a kill, they can eat a lot. Flynt said alligators can consume up to 23 percent of their body weight during a single meal. So, a 1,000-pound gator can eat 230 pounds of prey at one time, but not in one bite.

Larger prey requires alligators to crush large bones and roll to tear flesh into manageable bites. While alligators are quite skilled at dismantling other animals, it often comes at a price — tooth loss.

Fortunately, alligators have 80 teeth and they grow back.

"The scientists say they can go through 2,000 to 3,000 teeth in their lifetime," Flynt said. "If you do the math, that's 25 to 35 sets of teeth in a lifetime."